Connecticut has a history of being a generous and sharing state — its communities, while staunchly independent, have often pulled together. One of the state's nicknames, the Provisions State, attests to this.

The Provisions State moniker dates back to the time of the American Revolution, when Gen. George Washington and Connecticut Gov. Jonathan Trumbull often met in Lebanon to discuss ways to feed the Continental Army. The small building on Lebanon's town green, once the governor's modest store, became the War Office. It was used much like the Pentagon as a secure site for planning and holding materials needed by the soldiers. This small community nestled in patriot farm country would nourish the cause of liberty.

Lebanon went so far as housing Lauzun's Legion on the town's vast green for the winter. This legion under French Gen. Comte de Rochambeau came to aid the patriot cause. The French anchored at Newport, R.I., and Gen. Washington soon realized that there was not enough forage in Newport for the horses of the 230 mounted hussars or food for the 300 light infantry soldiers. Nov. 10, 1780, they left Newport and marched to Lebanon. They dined on the hospitality of Lebanon until June 10, 1781.

Albert E. Van Dusen, in his book, "Connecticut," said, "Perhaps the best indication of Connecticut's pre-eminent position as a supply state is found in Washington's very frequent appeals to Trumbull for help in provisions."

Cold winters have traditionally kept Connecticut residents close to home and warmth of fire. For many generations, winter was the time to tell the stories of our state's most honored heroes. In the villages and communities of Pomfret and Brooklyn, stories are plentiful about Israel Putnam, who farmed the rolling hills in the mid- to late 1700s. He was born in Danvers, Mass., in 1718 and at 22 he moved to a piece of property known as Mortlake, in present-day Brooklyn.

Putnam tended his animals and crops such as winter apples. In 1774, the promise of spring was tarnished by word that British had nearly closed down the city of Boston in an attempt to starve the restless colonists into submission. Putnam, who had seen action in the French and Indian War, responded to this human cry of need with patriotic fervor and a masterful plan to feed the hungry and rally flagging spirits. Brooklyn Parish gathered its lambs, which were then driven north by Israel Putnam to feed the starving Bostonians. Two hundred forty winters have passed since those sheep were taken to neighbors in need.

By 1774, Putnam's heroism was already legendary. Thirty-one years earlier, he and other farmers tracked the last Connecticut wolf. The old she-wolf had decimated livestock holdings in northeast Connecticut. As far as the settlers were concerned, she and her kind had taken more than their share. Now only one was left and she seemed bent on destroying the farm herds.

Survival of the colony depended heavily on settlers farming their own food. From eastern Connecticut, across the Connecticut River and back, they tracked the three-toed she-wolf. Finally, they believed they had her cornered in a rocky den. Israel Putnam crawled on hands and knees into the wolf's den, torch in hand, to confirm her presence by viewing her gleaming eye and the curled lip of her snarling mouth. On a second trip down the low dark passage, he shot the wolf and killed it. On the third trip, he dragged the body out for display in town. His exploits became story, and after several winters, a Connecticut legend.

Putnam's broader fame may rest on his response to news of the Battle of Bunker Hill, word of which arrived at Brooklyn in April 1775. Putnam left his plow in the brown half-turned field and galloped away for Boston. He led the patriot soldiers at the battle of Breed's Hill and is often quoted as being the officer who said, "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes!" The aging general served throughout the Revolution and then returned to his quiet agricultural life and the business of feeding his family and inn guests in Brooklyn.

Carolyn Stearns of Mansfield is a professional storyteller. She recently received the National Storytelling Network Oracle Award for service and leadership in storytelling in the Northeast. Her website is at http://www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com.